Thursday, December 26, 2013

2013 Louisville EGA trip

I've been stitching since I was 16 years old so one of the items on my bucket list was to attend a cross stitching conference/retreat that had national teachers who taught new stitches and new forms of needlework. So, my stichers friends and I decided to attend the 2013 EGA National Conference in Louisville Kentucky. We planned this trip for at least a year in advance. The trip not only contained a lot of stitching but turned out to be a FOODIE trip thanks to Mary V.D. She planned our dinner reservations and chose one of the best eating experiences I have had in a long time. Allow me to start our adventure. Since Louisville is the home of the Kentucky Derby, the theme of horses, bourdon and down home cooking was everywhere. IN the garage, they had the most hilarious pictures of horses that gave me a chuckle everytime I picked up the car to drive to dinner. Here are some of them:

We started our foodie adventure at a Diner on Rt 79 for breakfast. For lunch, we stopped at Skyline Chili in Cincinnati and had a chili dog that was a treat. But the better treat on that day was to buy a chocolate chip ice cream with a pretzel cone from Graeters. I am not a fan of ice cream but I have to admit that the mix of cream with pretzels was incredible.

We arrived Friday afternoon and checked into the Galt House in Lousivlle. We reserved a suite for the week since we needed space to eat our lunches and drink and stitch in the evenings. The suite was the largest suite I have ever seen. It was the size of three hotels rooms. It had a dining room table that sat eight people, two couches, a desk and a bar. It was unbelievable. The pics below is the view from our balcony. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day that the effects of a hurricane were coming through.

The conference had 2 banquets as part of the event so we attended those. This event's theme was the Kentucky Derby so you had to wear a hat. Because I hate hats, I am not in the picture. My friends from left to right (Shirley, Mary, Deb, Lisa and Nancy)

For the other dinners, we went out to eat for dinners. We tried to eat around the Galt House to make it easier for all. On Monday, we ate at Sidebar where I had a pretty good burger with cheddar. Tuesday, we ate at Doc Crows where I had fried pork chops with mashed potatoes. A southern fav. Wednesday, we had a pizza party in the room because this was shopping day at the conference. Thursday, we ate at Hill Billy Tea. It was the cutest restaurant and my favorite in Louisville. We had Horny Goat and Remedy Tea, butternut squash soup, cheese plates with Benedictine cheese, pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and roasted radishes. Drank wine in a flat mason jar.

At the end of the week, we ate at Jack Frys and had the largest pork chop we've ever seen.

This ended our great food adventure.

Since the real reason to go to Louise was to take a few courses, I participated in 2 courses one was a sampler and the other semi gold work course. see pics below

The sampler course was not beyond my capabilities but the instructor was not teaching up to par because she was ill so it was a disappointment. The gold work class was BEYOND my capabilities but the product was beautiful. You can never complete a project in the class but this one would require many hours outside of class to complete.

Lastly, the best part of attending a conference like this is the shopping area. Below you will find all of my purchases.